THE IDEA of eating less meat has been a difficult one for politicians, businesses and consumers to swallow. But a more sensible debate is emerging and even meat companies are promoting the need to eat “less but better” meat, as Paul Williams explains.
“AT THE WELL Hung Meat company we have long been beating the drum about eating higher quality, ethical, sustainable, drug free, organic, grass-fed meat, less often.
Over the coming years quality meat is going to become a luxury reserved for the rich and privileged, rare and exclusive, meat will be an expensive treat rather than the main event in our daily diets.
Recent focus in the news has revealed the issue of urging the people in Britain to eat meat less often, in order to help ease the food crises in the developing world. This will not go away, rather escalate.
Lib Dem MP Sir Malcolm Bruce, said this week: ‘With the UK never more than a few days away from a significant food shortage, UK consumers should also be encouraged over time to reduce how often they eat meat.’
We sell only organic meat from farms where we know they do things right. Our animals live outside, eating grass – this is hugely important for us. As far as we’re concerned the quality of an animal’s life has a direct effect on the quality of the meat they give us. Grass-fed meat is full of vitamins, and healthy fats, omega 3’s and conjugated linoleic acids. Our animals enjoy the fresh air and fodder of some of the best pastureland in Britain. So they’re happier, their meat is sweeter, and the environment benefits too.
And when we prepare the meat, we know how to get the best flavour. The name ‘Well Hung Meat’ emulates the hanging process that is carried out in the butchery. The meat is hung for the time it needs to make it tender, and to ‘taste like meat used to’. Also, when we prepare the meat, we know how to get the best flavour. That’s up to one week for lamb, pork and poultry, and a minimum of three weeks for beef. Then we butcher our meat by hand, using traditional skills and tools, producing a variety of interesting and useful cuts. You can tell the quality just by looking at them.
Our aim is not to compete with local farm shops or butchers across the country but instead to tackle the supermarket dominance by offering a convenient, cost effective and flexible alternative to the unhealthy, processed meat that you find on the supermarket shelves and in ready meals. We target not the elite ‘organic only’ market but the general public as a whole. Our message is, eat less meat, but be sure of the quality and traceability of what you do buy. To us meat production is not a business, it is a lifestyle.”
Paul Williams is brands and communication manager at the Well Hung Meat company.
This month’s Footprint features a report on sustainable diets.
